


more than a crush

by sunsetozier



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: It's just cute, M/M, Prompt Fill, eddie's oblivious, richie's dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 06:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16236104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetozier/pseuds/sunsetozier
Summary: The Prompt:All the boy Losers are lowkey into Eddie but Eddie is oblivious and Richie is silently, jealously fuming about it.





	more than a crush

**Author's Note:**

> this is another prompt fill for the reddie library! send more prompts [here.](https://reddielibrary.tumblr.com/ask) (if you want to send up halloween prompts, please do! just make sure you start the ask with "Halloween Prompt:" !!)

            For a long time, Richie doesn’t realize what’s happening. Perhaps he should have, because it was quite obvious, really, but it never clicked in his mind. Hell, it wasn’t even in the realm of possibility, so far off from what he thought could happen that he never bothered to entertain the idea of it. It just couldn’t be true, right? It wasn’t true.

            Slowly but surely, he learns that he’s wrong.

            He learns that he’s not the only one with a crush on Eddie Kaspbrak.

            They all show it in different ways, which is the problem. While, yes, it is obvious, it’s also a hidden in plain sight kind of thing because of how each of them handles it. Mike is just warmer, kinder, and gentler than usual, his words smooth and his eyes fond – easy to detect once noticed, but the matter of noticing it is harder than one might think. In comparison to the others, Mike was the last that Richie realized shared his hopeless attraction to Eddie. Before Mike, it had been Bill, who had gone from treating Eddie with a brotherly-like love to something similar to how he had behaved around Beverly back when they were thirteen-years-old, a little pink-cheeked and his stutter just a tad bit worse than normal. Ben stammers nervously when around Eddie, flushes slightly under Eddie’s gaze and offers little hand-written poems and hand-made gifts every other week or so. Stan is actually not much different than normal, but he’s never been much of a blusher, and his red cheeks when Eddie’s near had given him away months ago. At least, it gave him away to Richie.

            Richie thinks he’s the only person who realizes that there are currently five guys crushing on Eddie, because none of the other losers seem bothered by it, whereas Richie is _beyond_ bothered. And he shouldn’t be, he knows – really, it’s not his business, except it really is because he’s been head over heels in love with Eddie since they were in middle school and it seems a little fucking unfair that everyone else is realizing how much of a catch Eddie is many years later and none of them even have the audacity to seem wary about it. Like, surely they must _know,_ right? Richie’s never been subtle about his feelings, he’s always showered Eddie in compliments and flirtation and affection, and he used to get the shit beaten out of him by Bowers and his goons every fucking day because of it, so it has to be common knowledge by now. There’s no way that the losers aren’t aware of how he feels about Eddie. And maybe it’s selfish, but Richie feels like there should only be one loser trying to woo Eddie at a time, and it should definitely be him and no one else.

            As of now, the others have only done small things in an attempt to win Eddie’s heart, and poor Eddie is as clueless as he’s always been. Richie bitterly thinks that the others must not know Eddie very well – as in, Richie’s been declaring his love to Eddie on a daily basis, has literally called Eddie the love of his life at least a dozen times in the past week alone, and Eddie still thinks it’s friendly banter. Smart boy, Eddie is, but a bit slow on understanding romantic advances. Anything short of planting a kiss on him won’t get the message across, honestly, and Richie knows this. The others, apparently, do not.

            (Perhaps it’s a little bit fucked up, but the fact that Richie’s the only one that really knows Eddie well enough to understand this makes him a little smug. Like, he’s perfect for Eddie. He knows Eddie better than anyone. Sure, if Eddie wants to marry Stan the fucking Man, then Richie will be the best man without a complaint, but he’ll sit there the entire wedding and know for a fact that he’s the only person who _really_ understands the way Eddie’s brain works. That’s a privilege all on it’s own. A gift in many forms. Like knowing exactly what to get Eddie for his birthday, or knowing when Eddie wants to go out somewhere or just hang out inside. The little things that really add up and count overtime.)

            He knows that the others don’t know this because he can see the disappointment on their faces when the meaning behind their words goes unnoticed. Last week, the losers had gone to see a movie together and Bill had slung an arm over Eddie’s shoulders (which, not to be a dick or anything, but Richie’s pretty sure it’s a known fact that he’s the one who always has Eddie under his arm, so that was kind of skin-pricking and frustrating to see) and told him he looked great. Eddie had been chirpy, happy, as he usually is, and said a simple thank you before engaging in a conversation with Beverly. Richie watched as Bill’s face fell slightly before he withdrew his arm and shoveled a handful of popcorn into his mouth sadly. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and Richie understands completely how it feels to try and make a move on Eddie only to have him not understand, but he’d been a little cocky, too, sliding up behind Eddie and putting his arm around his shoulder (like he always has, because that’s kind of his thing, thanks) and joining the conversation between him and Bev with ease, grinning when Eddie leaned into his touch.

            It’s all subconscious, really. Eddie isn’t subtle about his feelings, either, he just doesn’t fully grasp the extent of them yet. Richie knows that, on some level at least, Eddie likes him – he can tell in the way they sometimes hold hands, in the way that sometimes is always when they go see movies together, in the way Eddie’s eyes light up whenever he sees or hears Richie. He’s never doubted that Eddie won’t reciprocate his feelings, but he didn’t want to rush anything. For years, he’s been waiting for Eddie to understand his advances, to understand his own feelings, and to make the first move.

            But after yesterday, Richie isn’t sure he can do that whole waiting thing anymore.

            Richie has been observing the other guys’ attempts at flirting with Eddie ever since he noticed their crushes a couple months back, and for the most part, he wasn’t really worried. A little annoyed, sure, but not worried. Each attempt has been too subtle, or too cliché, or simply just not good, often making Richie snicker when he sees them happen, but apparently Mike got some advice or something, because he stepped up his game real fucking fast. Like, over night fast. Richie didn’t see it coming, but yesterday he’d been making his way to the Center Street Drugstore to get some menstrual supplies for Beverly, who had called him earlier that morning ranting about something her aunt said before promptly asking if Richie could come over to marathon movies and talk shit, which is a telltale sign that she’s starting her period, and when Richie was over there last week, he’d taken notice that she was running a little low on tampons. He’s a good friend, and decided to pick some up for her on the way to her house.

            As he was making his way across the street, however, he saw it.

            Or, rather, he saw _them_ – Eddie and Mike, sitting on the curb outside of the ice cream shop, chatting happily with one another, eyes bright and grins brighter, and they didn’t see him, no. There were enough people walking around for him to go unnoticed from across the street, and he walked with a hot ball of something ugly burning in his chest and a dry mouth as Mike casually linked their hands together, fingers intertwined, and Eddie didn’t even look caught off guard or anything.

            See, Eddie isn’t a hand holder, not with most people. Even in kindergarten he was against the whole chain system where the entire class held hands in the hall in order to avoid anyone being left behind. For a long time, he only held his mother’s hand, and that was only because she made him. When they were twelve, however, Richie held his hand for the first time, and ever since it’s just been… their thing. Again, it’s a sometimes kind of thing, except for when they see movies together, because they always hold hands in the darkness of the movie theater. As far as Richie knows, he hasn’t held any of the losers hand outside of absolute necessity other than him, and maybe he’s reading into it, but it just… it feels bad. It feels wrong. It feels like maybe he had been wrong all this time, like maybe Eddie never has and never will like him, like maybe Eddie will end up with one of the other losers and Richie will always be left to wonder if the things he feels were always one sided.

            And Richie’s not against that or anything. He wants Eddie to be happy, no matter what that entails. If the only way to make Eddie happy was to crash a car and light his house on fire, he’d probably do it. But he’s never really entertained the thought that Eddie’s happiness may not include him at all, and it kind of sucks to think about. It kind of aches, like a bruise or a broken bone that has yet to fully mend.

            So he gets a little impulsive. Which isn’t a surprise, really, because Richie’s an impulsive person, always has been and probably always will be. His only form of impulse control is when one of the losers tells him not to do something, and even that isn’t full proof. He once shaved his head on a whim while Ben watched in horror and Stan yelled at him to stop the entire time. It took a long time for his hair to grow back out and he regretted doing it, but he’d been unable to convince himself that it was a bad idea in the moment. Kind of like now, as he knocks on the front door of the Kaspbrak residence and waits, knowing that Sonia has some kind of church thing on Sunday evenings that Eddie stopped going to years ago. There’s a good chance he’ll regret this later, but right now, he can’t find a single reason to turn back.

            Eddie opens the door, brows creased together, and then brightens when he sees Richie. Without even saying a word, he moves back, opens the door further, and makes room for Richie to come in, an action that makes Richie grin despite the nerves running icy cold in his veins. “What are you doing here?” Eddie asks him, purely curious and seemingly happy about the surprise visit as he closes the door and leads the way down the hall. Richie trails after him quietly, opting to wait until after they’ve settled in Eddie’s room to respond, and even then he falters for a moment, unsure of how to bring this up.

            “Are you dating Mike or something?”

            And. Well. That’s not exactly how he wanted to approach this.

            See? Impulsive.

            For a long moment, Eddie stares at him like he’s grown a second head, his eyes wide and his lips parted around words that he seems incapable of fully forming. Richie just stands there, patient for what is most likely the first time in his entire life, and waits. Eventually, Eddie sits heavily on the edge of his bed, blinks slowly, and asks, “What?”

            “Mike,” Richie says, as if that’s the part that Eddie’s questioning. He lifts a shoulder in a half shrug and purses his lips, eyes squinting in contemplation before he decides on explaining, “I saw you two, yesterday. At the ice cream shop. You were holding hands.”

            “So?” Eddie sounds absolutely bewildered, which is kind of a relief, because it cements the fact that he has absolutely no idea that Mike is definitely crushing on him. He’s blissfully unaware.

            Averting his eyes to scan over the wall like it’s the most interesting in the world, Richie tells him, _“So,_ you don’t hold hands with people. You never have. It has to mean something for you.”

            Eddie blinks again, looking lost. “I hold hands with you, and it means that he’s my one of my best friends and he wanted to hold my hand, so I let him…”

            Unable to help it, Richie snorts. “Trust me, Eds, he didn’t want to hold your hand because you two are friends.”

            “What are you—”

            “Mike likes you,” Richie tells him insistently, tired of beating around the bush. “So does Bill, and Ben, and Stan, and- and me.”

            Shaking his head slowly, confusion still clouding his features, Eddie says, “I like you guys, too. You’re all my best friends. I still don’t understand what you’re asking, though.”

            Scrubbing a hand over his features with a bubbly little laugh, equal parts exasperated and charmed by how clueless Eddie still is. “Not like a friend,” he elaborates, gesturing vaguely in front of him as he talks. “Like, _like-like,_ you know? Mike wanted to hold your hand because he wants to date you. As in boyfriends. That kind of thing. So do Bill, Ben, Stan, and me, but it’s fucking _ridiculous_ because I’ve _definitely_ been crushing on you the longest and those _assholes_ are trying to—”

            “Crushing on me?” Eddie repeats, effectively cutting off Richie’s rambling before he can say anything that could make the situation any worse. The sound of Richie’s jaw clicking as his mouth snaps shut almost echoes in the moment of silence that settles over them. Eddie is looking up at him like he’s a book written in another language, something he doesn’t understand but desperately wants to, and it makes Richie’s mouth a little dry when he softly asks, “You’re crushing on me?”

            “Um.” Richie falters, tilting his head from side to side as he considers his next words. He hadn’t bothered coming up with a game plan or anything on the way here, so he hasn’t decided how much he does and doesn’t want to say, but hey, he’s already started digging himself into this hole. Might as well bury himself alive, right? _“They’re_ crushing on you,” he corrects, scraping his teeth over his lower lip nervously and pointedly avoiding looking in Eddie’s general direction, eyes fixated on his shoes. He absently realizes that he should probably clean off the mud stains on the soles sometime soon, but then decides that this definitely isn’t the time to be thinking about that. “I’m… more, I guess. More than crushing. Have been for a long time, too. Like… years. Many, many years.”

            Eddie blanches at that, his eyes going impossibly wide as he processes Richie’s words. With each passing moment, Richie starts to realize that maybe this hadn’t been a good idea, but then Eddie smiles, small and bashful, and he can’t really regret his choice to come here when he gets to see that look. “More than crushing? What does that mean?”

            Rubbing the back of his neck in uncertainty, Richie shrugs and protests, “You’re not listening to what I was saying. Mike held your hand because he likes you, and- and Stan keeps asking you to go to his house ‘cause he doesn’t know how to flirt, and those poems Ben keeps giving aren’t friendly, and, uh- and Bill? Yeah, he- he keeps trying to compliment you and shit, but you just don’t see that it’s flirty—”

            “And what do you do?” Eddie asks.

            “Why are you fixating on me?” Richie fires back, now feeling as confused as Eddie looked mere moments before. “I’m just, like- I’m trying to let you know, okay? So that you can, like, be aware of what they’re doing and… I dunno. Decide what you want to do about it. Like… more informed decisions.”

            “I—”

            “And if you want to date any of them, then, like, I’m not gonna complain or be upset or anything, I just- I thought you should know, you know?” Richie isn’t even sure what he’s saying at this point, only knows that words are rolling off his tongue at an alarming rate. “Like, I mean- I know what I just said, and I mean it, but not- I don’t—”

            Eddie stands up abruptly, the action so sudden that it makes Richie freeze, words dying in the back of his throat. “Informed decisions,” he repeats slowly, brows pinched together slightly as he scans over Richie’s features. He breaks out into an amused grin then, the shift between moods almost giving Richie whiplash. “You came here to tell me this so that I could make an _informed decision?”_

            Blinking slowly, Richie murmurs, “Um… yes?”

            “Okay.” Eddie nods, looking contemplative for approximately ten seconds before curling his fingers into the collar of Richie’s shirt and tugging him forward to seal their lips together in a brisk, two-second kiss that Richie can’t even attempt to reciprocate. Pulling back quickly, not releasing his hold on Richie, Eddie states, “I think I made my decision. I love all of the losers, but there’s only one I want to date. Now, _please_ tell me what more than crushing means? Please?”

            “I, uh…” Richie trails off, taking a long moment to comprehend what, exactly, just happened. Lips twitching up into an incredulous grin, he settles his hands on Eddie’s waist, the action almost timid, and tells him, “I’m not crushing, Eds, I’m pretty head over heels in love, and it’s obvious to everyone else except for you.”

            With a little hum of amusement, Eddie nods, apparently satisfied with that response, and says, “Good. I’m pretty head over heels, too.” Before Richie can reply, Eddie kisses him again. And if a petty part of Richie waltzes up to the losers the next day and kisses Eddie directly in front of everyone else just to make it clear that the flirting won’t get them anywhere, no one says anything about it.

**Author's Note:**

> lemme know what ya think!! :D


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